1870.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
21 
markings. A group of the leaves is given in 
the engraving, where it is difficult to show- 
much more than the form. The imagination 
must fill up the markings of some with rose, 
carmine and purple, give a pure white ground, 
traced witli delicate green lines to 
others, and to a few it must give the 
metallic lustre of bronze. The florists 
offer some eighty varieties at prices 
ranging from 35c. to $4.00 each, ac- 
cording to their rarity and ease of 
propagation. The lower priced ones, 
which., comprise most of those shown 
in the engraving, include some of the 
most desirable sorts. The Caladiums 
are mostly natives of the tropics of Asia 
and America; they flourish in good 
garden soil, but all the better if it is 
partially shaded. They must not be put 
out until about the first of June, and 
when the early frosts come the bulbs 
must be taken up and kept in a warm 
place. The derivation of the name Ca- 
ladium does not appear to be settled, 
but if the plants become as popular as 
we think they may, it will present no 
more obstacles to those who have an 
aversion to botanical names than do 
Rhododendron.Magnolia and Geranium. 
The Sylvester Apple. 
At the State Fair held in Rochester 
in 1868, we saw an apple which was re- 
markable for its beauty, and when its 
originator, Dr. E. Ware Sylvester, of 
Lyons, K. Y., gave us a specimen to 
taste, we found that its quality kept the 
promise made by its exterior. Again, 
this year, we have been able to try 
other specimens of the variety, and 
considering it as deserving a wider pop- 
ularity than it now enjoys, have had 
it engraved. The tree is said to be 
vigorous and an abundant bearer. The 
size and shape of the fruit are shown 
in the engraving. The skin is white 
and of a most delicate waxy appearance, 
which is hightened by the beautiful markings 
of crimson that are found upon the speci- 
mens, which have been well exposed to the 
sun. The flesh is white and very tender and 
juicy; indeed, upon cutting, the juice follows 
The Climbing 1 Fern. {Lygodium palmatum.) 
— • — 
The Climbing Fern is so unlike others of our 
native ferns, that one at first sight would hardly 
class it with them. Its peculiar form and climb- 
SYLVESTEH APPLE. 
the knife as it does with a well-ripened pear; 
flavor, a pleasant subacid. Excellent for cooking 
Sept. and Oct. Dr. Sylvester should feel gratified 
at having his name attached to so good a fruit. 
climbing fern — (Lygodium palmatum.) 
iug habit are shown in the reduced engraving, 
where a fragment is also given of the fall size. 
The light brown stalk is very slender and wiry, 
and twines closely around small shrubs and 
other plants, climbing to the hight of two or 
three feet. Small branches are placed alter- 
nately on the main stem ; these are 
forked, and bear at each division what 
passes for a single leaf, but which, in a 
botanical description, would be called 
\ a frond or frondlet. Each of these 
"\ leaf-like bodies is several lobed, the A 
V,\ upper ones being yery much divided. 
The small upper ones are the fertile 
I \ fronds, and upon the under side of r 
*j|, them the spore-cases, or what cor- 
respond to seed-vessels, are borne. 
This is among the rare plants of the 
■w ' crmiul Ti but it is found in several 
W localities, from Massachusetts to as 
¥ far south as Florida. One of the most 
abundant localities is at East Wind- 
sor Hill, Conn. The striking delicacy 
and beauty of this fern adapt it to dec- 
orative purposes, and it is used in 
its green state, or pressed and dried, 
when it is formed into graceful 
wreaths to surround pictures, attach- 
ed to white curtains and the like. So pop- 
ular had it become in Connecticut that there 
was clanger that the locality at East Windsor 
Hill would become extinct, as large quantities 
were carried off yearly, until an act was passed 
by the Legislature forbidding its wanton des- 
truction. The root-stalks are very slender, and 
the plant does not, as a general thing, bear re- 
moval well, though we have known it to be 
successfully transplanted and to estab- 
lish itself thoroughly. Lygodium comes 
from the Greek word for flexible, and 
the specific name palmatum is in refer- 
ence to the manner in which the fronds 
are lobed, like an outspread hand. 
Propagating the Larch from Seed. 
BY D. C. SCOFLELD, ELGIN, ILL. 
[Mr. Scofield, who is a warm advo- 
cate of tree-planting, considers the 
European Larch the most valuable tree 
for timber. He gives the following as 
his method of treating the seed. — Eds.] 
. " First. Two prominent difficulties 
are encountered in this country, which 
I believe are unknown in Europe ; the 
hot rays of the sun having the double 
tendency to scald or heat the soil, so 
that it causes the plant to die at the 
collar, or as the phrase has it ' damp 
off,' as well as to scorch the tender 
plant as it emerges from the earth. 
These are overcome first, by selecting 
a light, sandy, dry, though rich soil, for 
the seed bed ; and secondly, by a partial 
shading the first season, which may be 
best done by nailing strips of lath one 
inch apart, and placing them, one foot 
in hight, over the seed bed, so as to 
, partially obstruct the rays of the sun. 
Any other material that will render 
the same amount of shade, will answer. 
" Second. The soil where the seed is to 
be sown should be as clean from weed- 
seed as possible. The usual time of 
sowing onion seed, or from middle of 
April till first of May, is the time to sow 
Larch. It may be sown in drills, four or 
six inches apart, or broad-cast, and cov- 
ered just enough to retain moisture until 
it germinates. It may be sown as onion or 
other seed without preparation. Clean culture 
is indispensable. The shading may be dis- 
pensed with after the first season. The seed- 
lings should be transplanted either at one or two 
veara old from the seed-bed. This should be 
early v. yman- CABBAGE —(See next page.) 
done as soon as the weather and soil will per- 
mit, in the spring, in a similar soil to that in 
which they were grown, and better at one year 
old than two. Transplant in beds, in rows six 
